Healthcare Insurance for Expatriates in the Gulf

By : Jharna Bhatnagar

If you have found a job in the Gulf and are looking to relocate soon, there would be many things that you need to sort out before you pack your bags and board a flight to the Gulf. Apart from your accommodation and family needs there, you would also need to look at one of the most important concerns of expatriates- healthcare insurance. A good healthcare insurance scheme is a must when you move to the Gulf. While there have been efforts to make healthcare insurance compulsory for all expatriates coming in to the region for Gulf jobs, there are still some hurdles that one might experience.

For most jobs in the Gulf, generally the employer will arrange your health insurance cover. For most companies, there is the group insurance scheme that will cover you too once you become an employee. Or, if not, the employer will ensure that you get a health insurance scheme when you relocate. It would be advisable if you ask all about this to your recruitment officer when you accept the offer. Ask about the scheme, the insurance cover, the benefits that it gives, the premium that you would have to pay, the medical treatments that are covered under it, etc.

If you want to avoid any hassles on this front later, the best thin to do would be to research and find out details about it before relocating. You can do online research, talk to friends, if any, in the Gulf or talk to your prospective employer. You must know all the essential details of the healthcare insurance scheme before you arrive in the host country. Some consider it an ancillary thing and do not pay much attention to it beforehand. That is a mistake and you should research about it thoroughly before relocating for your and your family’s benefit.

For different Gulf States, the working, procedure and the benefits of the healthcare system may be different. So, you must find out how it operates in your host country. At some places, there are special health care covers for expatriates. At other places, it is obligatory for the employer to cover all expatriate workers in the company healthcare scheme. At some places, you may find that there is no distinction between the locals and the foreign workers. In some cases, there may be a requirement for specific documents to procure the insurance cover. And every time, you use the healthcare facilities, you might be required to show a proof of your insurance cover.

Across the Gulf, there are varied standards of health care systems. You must ascertain what the health care standard in your host country is. If you have particular health problems in your family, do ask specifically about the standard of health care offered by the states where you are relocating. You must ensure that all health care concerns of your family will be taken care of at the new place. It might be possible that there are excellent general healthcare facilities in that state but not good arrangement for specialized treatments. You can discuss this with the human resources department of your company or the company health practitioner. Other than this, you should find out what the insurance cost is. This will also be different for different Gulf states and different insurers. Also, make sure that your healthcare scheme in the Gulf covers the repatriation or evacuation costs in case of emergencies.

Other than this, you need to find out the language of communication of the medical practitioners in the host country. Although most of them would speak in English, you should not make any assumptions. There might be cases where the doctors prefer talking in the native language as compared to English.

Even when your employer I staking care of your healthcare insurance needs, there are a few things that you need to understand on your own. You must find out the formalities regarding getting yourself registered with a doctor or a dentist. You should check if your healthcare insurance scheme limits your choice of doctors or dentists. How your insurance cover works in case of emergencies is also important to know. These are small things but extremely essential when you move to the Gulf for a job. Thus while you enjoy your stay in the Gulf, you can also be sure that your healthcare needs are taken care of.

About The Author-- Geetika Jain writes on behalf of NaukriGulf.com, a leading job portal for jobs in Gulf Region, Jobs in Dubai, Middle East jobs. Naukri.com's foray into the Middle East is an Endeavour to provide established client base with services that best meet their international requirements as well as expand our operations on to a global arena.

What are the Symptoms of Swine Flu H1N1?

By : Nick Mutt

Swine flu (also known as swine influenza) is referred to as H1N1 virus of A type. This is the recent strain of flu which has affected people all around the world. This virus is a combined effect of bird flu, swine flu and human flu. This new strain is highly infectious and has become the most talked and seen news on television. It is a pandemic disease and people are really scared of it. H1N1 virus spreads out to other countries by way of people travelling from one country to another.

For the first time, humans have been exposed to this form of influenza and hence there is no specific medicine for this. This is the reason that has made the 2009 swine flu so dangerous. At present, there are no preventative drugs which can be taken so as to prevent it. Hence, children, elderly people and people who have a weak immune system should be cautious so that they do not get attacked by the flu. Swine flu was initially originated in Mexico and later the virus has spread all around the world. Cases of swine flu are starting to get visible in US. It has now been specifically renamed as H1N1 influenza or H1N1 flu to avoid people thinking as it has some connection to pigs.

People with 65 years and older, children younger than five years old, pregnant women, and people with weak immune system are at higher risk of getting affected with swine flu virus. The symptoms of swine flu are similar to normal seasonal flu, so to make difference between them is a tough task.

The common symptoms are high fever and chills in the beginning, severe fatigue and body aches. Other symptoms like cough, cold, sore throat, difficulty in breathing, headache, weakness and general discomfort are also present. Some people experience diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

You are contagious if you have the above symptoms. So you should stay home unless you are going to hospital for treatment. It is important that you consult your physician for the swine flu tests if you notice any of these symptoms. If it is diagnosed in early stage, there is a good chance of making a quick recovery.

To prevent from getting in contact with the virus, cover your nose from a mask. If you have symptoms of cold or flu, cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough and sneeze to prevent other people from getting infected. Wash your hands often with antibacterial soap. Avoid touching your nose, eyes or mouth since viruses spread that way fast. Avoid going to school, office or anywhere outside.

To learn more about H1N1 flu symptoms, prevention and treatment, you need to know complete information on H1N1 flu. Be sure to pick up the book on swine flu to keep yourself and your family away from this pandemic disease.

About The Author-- Get the complete information on swine flu symptoms, prevention and treatment through Swine Flu H1N1 Books. Read simple and effective Home Remedies for Influenza and herbal treatments. Know the herbal treatments and Home Remedies for Cough.

Article Source: Articles island - Free article submission and free reprint articles

An American Universal Health Care System

By : Hugo Gallegos

Real health care reform is a complex issue; therefore it's not possible to cover every aspect of universal health care or reform of the current system in this short article. However we will cover as much ground with the limited space available.

Health Care System Needs Reform, Not a Government Takeover

Believe it or not, America boasts some of the world’s best doctors, the most advanced health care system, and the most technically superior resources in the world, bar none. Those who travel globally and have gotten sick know that their first choice for treatment would be in the U.S. Though health care in America is, more expensive than any other country, many of the worlds wealthiest come to the U.S for surgical procedures and complex care, because it holds a worldwide reputation for the gold standard in health care.

To examine the complex health care issue, a small research study was conducted from randomly selected doctors in mdnationwide.org's best doctors database. We ask 50 top doctors, located in different states and who practice different specialty fields, " Is a universal health care plan good for America?" Forty-eight of these doctors essentially responded that it was a "bad idea" that would have negative impacts on the quality of our nation’s health care.

Social Engineering Your Health Care

One of the greatest mis-conceptions some people have relied on with regard to the health care debate is that, given a universal health care system, every person in the U.S. would receive the highest quality health care - the kind our nation is renowned for and that we currently receive. However, unlike some public amenities, health care is not a collective public service like police and fire protection services, therefore the Government cannot provide the same quality of health care to everyone, because not all physicians are equally good orthopedic surgeons, internists, neurosurgeons, etc, in the same way that not all individuals in need of health care are equally good patients.

As an analogy - stay with me - when you design a software program, there are many elements that are coded on the back-end, and used to manipulate certain aspects of the software program, that your average "John Doe" who uses the software (the end user) does not understand or utilize, nor do they care about these elements. Certain aspects of the program are coded, so that when one uses that portion of the program, other elements of the program are manipulated and automatically follow the present or next command.

Likewise, once a universal health care plan is implemented in America and its massive infrastructure is shaped, private insurance companies will slowly disappear, and as a result, eventually patients will automatically be forced to utilize the government’s universal health care plan. As part of such a system, patients will be known as numbers rather than patients, because such a massive government program would provide compensation incentive based on care provided, patients would become "numbers," rather than "patients." In addition, for cost savings reasons, every bit of health information, including your own, will be analyzed, and stored by the Government. What are the consequences? If you're a senior citizen and need a knee replacement at the age of 70, the government may determine that you're to old and it's not worth the investment cost, therefore instead of surgery, you may be given medication for the rest of your life at a substantial cost savings to the government, and at a high quality of life price to you.

Solutions:

Fixing the current U.S. health care system might require that we;

1. Encourage prevention and early diagnosis of chronic conditions and management.

2. Completely reform existing government health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.

3. Forgive medical school debt for those willing to practice primary care in under-served areas.

4. Improve access to care, provide small businesses and the self-employed with tax credits, not penalties for providing health care.

5. Encourage innovation in medical records management to reduce costs.

6. Require tort reform in medical malpractice judgments to lower the cost of providing care.

7. Keep what isn’t broken-research shows 80% of Americans are happy with their current insurance, therefore, why completely dismantle it?

8. Reimburse physicians for their services.

9. Innovate a system in which Medicare fraud is dramatically decreased.

Devil In the Details

Socialized medicine means:

1. Loss of private practice options, reduced pay for physicians, overwhelming numbers of patients, and increasing burn-out may reduce the number of doctors pursuing the profession.

2. Patient confidentiality will need to be compromised, since centralized health care information will be maintained by the government and it's databases.

3. Healthy people who take care of themselves will pay for the burden of those with unhealthy lifestyles, such as those who smoke, are obese, etc.

4. Patients lose the incentive to stay healthy or aren't likely to take efforts to curb their prescription drug costs because health care is free and the system can easily be abused.

5. The U.S. Government will need to call the shots about important health decisions dictating what procedures are best for you, rather than those decisions being made by your doctor(s), which will result in poor individualized patient care.

6. Tax rates will rise substantially-universal health care is not free since citizens are required to pay for it in the form of taxes.

7. Your freedom of choice will be restricted as to which doctor is best for you and your family.

8. Like all public programs, government bureaucracy, even in the form of health care, does not promote healthy competition that reduces costs based on demand. What’s more, accountability is limited to the budgetary resources available to police such a system.

9. Medicare is subsidized by private insurers to the tune of billions of dollars, therefore if you take them out of the equation, add a trillion dollars or more to the current trillion dollar- plus cost estimates.

10. Currently, the government loses an estimated $30 billion a year due to Medicare fraud. Therefore, what makes anyone think that this same government will be able to run & operate a universal health care system that is resistant to fraud and save money while doing so?.

About The Author-- Hugo Gallegos a health information technology expert, author, software architect, and founder of MDNationwide.